


A Light in the Dark

by Spoob_doob



Series: Echo and Shadow (OC's) [1]
Category: No Fandom
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Original Character(s), Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-03
Updated: 2018-05-03
Packaged: 2019-05-01 18:02:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14526120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spoob_doob/pseuds/Spoob_doob
Summary: A story of a love that shouldn't have happened but did.





	A Light in the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this to distract myself and give me something to do. Escapism at its best. I may write more stuff with them and put it here but I don't know.  
> Just a love between characters I made up.

He'd never meant to fall for her. She was too human, small and delicate.  _ Fragile _ . If he'd been better at fighting back then he could have crushed her easily. But now he didn't have it in him.

He was stronger, more than he had been back then and easily stronger than her now, but he couldn't do it. He'd tried many times, wrapping his hands around her throat and squeezing, but never enough to cut off her air. At first she seemed scared, unprepared and her hands would fly up to grip his wrists and try and pry him off.

Now she just stared him down, eyes narrowed almost as if she was  _ daring  _ him to  _ do it. _ He never did. He would drop his hands again their eyes would be locked before she'd return to her usual self, all bright blue eyes and big smiles and a laugh that kept him up for  _ days _ .

It rang in his ears at night, a sweet melody that persisted through the hours, refusing to allow him a decent night's rest. A knot formed in his stomach that he couldn't figure out, that he'd never felt before and didn't entirely understand.

She drove him  _ insane _ . By all logic and reason he shouldn't care about her at all. They were too different, complete opposites  and yet he  _ craved  _ her presence. He wouldn't allow himself to be too close, yet didn't stray far when she stepped closer to him. She radiated  _ light  _ and  _ warmth  _ and  _ love  _ and everything he didn't understand and had never had before, everything he didn't know he wanted  _ or _ needed until it was gone and he was alone again.

He knew he'd gone too far when he saw her face that day. Something in his chest stirred so  _ strongly  _ and  _ every fiber _ of his being wanted her closer. It was almost  _ unbearable _ . For a moment they were happy and she laughed her  _ musical  _ laugh and then they were far closer than before and his lips pressed to hers and she froze up.

He pulled away, regarding her with a careful stare when suddenly her face broke into an expression that  _ tugged at places in his chest he didn't know still lived _ . Her cheeks were wet and red and she looked at him with stormy gray eyes and said, 

_ "Don't toy with me like this, Shadow."  _

She wiped at her face to no avail, voice breaking and he was fairly sure  _ something _ in his chest was  _ crumbling _ the longer he watched her fall apart. And then soon he didn't have to watch at all because she turned and ran off and then  _ she was gone _ and he was left standing alone in  _ their _ place and he didn't understand what he'd done wrong.

_ Is this not how humans show affection? Am I wrong? Do I follow her now? _

He did nothing for the time, instead wandering to his own space, dropping to his knees for some well needed rest that would never come. He dreamt of cloudy eyes and storms and an expression that couldn't have been more pained if he'd tried to kill her again.

He slept restlessly and when he awoke and she wasn’t anywhere nearby, he felt himself sinking. He’d never been one to fear much of anything, let alone the dark, but he was  _ lost _ without her light, the  _ warmth _ she brought just by being there beside him. He felt himself panic, and it was such a foreign feeling to him and he paced around in circles and he waited for her to come back.

She never did.

And he needed her like he needed oxygen.

When he finally found it within himself to look for her, it was harder than he’d expected. His emotions were out of control and the ground around him formed into jagged crystals, leaving his path entirely exposed. There’s no way she wouldn’t see him coming, and if she did he was  _ certain _ that she’d run again. He supposed he should have expected more from her. Of course, of all the humans it had to be  _ her. _ Even if he was fast, she was smart. If she wanted to stay hidden, he wouldn’t find her.

She refused to look at him when he did find her again. He tried to talk to her, and she remained despondent, not saying a word. He’d never been good at this, at talking or being near people, whether demon or otherwise.  _ Especially _ humans. They were unpredictable and all so different. Demons were cruel and ruthless, he knew what to expect from them, but  _ humans. _ Especially  _ this _ human, were very different from demons.

He had no idea how to tell her what was in his head, what was stirring so  _ strangely _ in his chest. How to tell her she kept him up at night without even being there, and then when he did sleep he only saw her there, but  _ never _ close enough. When he reached for her then she recoiled like she’d been slapped, her head swiveling around to level him with a  _ piercing _ gaze, and again he felt his air being sapped away because she looked  _ so broken and hurt again _ , and it was  _ his fault _ that she wore that expression. She had curled up away from him and he found words spilling that he’d never spoken before.

He told her as best he could what it felt like, struggling through as he tried  _ desperately  _ to find the words he needed. She was his light in a dark world, a voice that lulled him and put him at peace and yet at the same time only served to work him up, haunt his thoughts both waking and dreaming. He told her how he couldn’t quite explain it, because he’d never been close with anyone before, and he’d always been  _ repulsed _ by humans, and yet he’d never been repulsed by  _ her _ . 

And she stared at him with another new expression, one that he couldn’t read and he felt the stirring in his chest that was still so unfamiliar to him, and only felt it pick up when she shuffled closer and pressed her palm over the strange sensation. He felt her warmth and light even stronger when suddenly she let out a sound somewhere between a chuckle and a gasp and mumbled something he didn’t understand.

“...Heartbeat..”

_ A heartbeat. _ She cracked some sort of half smile before finally meeting his eyes, her own returning to their usual vibrant blue, and that only confused him more when she teared up yet again. His hands started to reach up but froze mid-air. He couldn’t hurt her again. Then, she laughed, loud and hysterical sounding, and the melody still left him breathless as he stared at her because, though he’d never admit it, she truly was  _ beautiful _ , and that scared him, but she left no time for him to think about that before she was collapsing against him, her body shaking as she wrapped her arms around him and he was  _ lost again, _ confused and unsure of what he was supposed to do until she spoke again.

“You have a heartbeat.”

He knew what that meant. He probably knew it the whole time and just refused to admit it even to himself. Demons don’t have heartbeats. He shouldn’t have one, but if he ever would, he supposed it made sense to be for her. She shifted up so they were at eye level again and pulled him into a proper hug, a new laugh bubbling out from her chest that he  _ knew _ was going to haunt him that night, only more so when she looked at him and said something that meant she knew  _ exactly _ what he’d been trying to say.

_ “I love you too.” _

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think and if you'd like to see more of them. c:


End file.
